Favorite Schools

Favorite Teams

Tree service trucks are parked at the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield as they and power company crews stage on the Big E grounds ahead of Hurricane Sandy.
(Mark M. Murray, The Republican)

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Western Massachusetts Electric Co. welcomed hundreds of utility workers from as far away as Michigan and Ohio all day Monday as part of its plans to be ready to cope with damage from Hurricane Sandy, according to a utility company spokesman.

Frank J. Poirot said crews were given training in safety practices before being dispatched. Workers will be on hand to deal with such anticipated damage as down power lines.

As of noon, he said as many as 1,000 customers had lost power due to the storm, mostly in the higher elevations such as in the Hilltowns. By that time, he said only about 100 customers were still without service. He asked that people who see downed power lines report them to the utility.

Poirot said he could not give exact numbers as to how many out-of-region utility workers have responded to the call for help as they continued to arrive all day and night Monday.

In West Springfield, one of the staging areas for the workers, about 250 were dispatched Monday morning, according to Ted R. Pleasant, utility compnay system operatioin manager..

Crews from around the country were fed from the Better Living Center at the Eastern States Exposition fairgrounds starting about 6 a.m. and then sent out to utility service centers in Springfield, East Springfield, Greenfield, Pittsfield and Hadley, according to Pleasant.

Most were from Midwestern states like Ohio and Illinois, and some were from Kentucky and Tennessee, states unaffected by the hurricane.

Pleasant said there were also crews staging in Greenfield and Hadley to take care of crews who were ready to restore power for WMECO’s customers in the 59 communities of the four Western Massachusetts counties of Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin and Berkshire.

“This is something we’re getting experience at, with all the changing weather in the Northeast,” Pleasant said. “It is like setting up for a small army. Unfortunately, we have a lot of practice at it.”

Since the October storm last year that left 140,000 thousands without power in the region, Pleasant said WMECO has become more transparent about its work.

To aid in the staging, the utility called in Base Logistics from Harvey, La., to help feed and shelter outside crews. Robert Murray, its area logistics coordinator, said his company has set up feeding stations in Dalton, Greenfield, Hadley and Springfield. Crews have been put up at local motels and hotels.

He said the three-acre Better Living Center, which the Eastern States Exposition has donated to the effort, has been especially convenient because it already has such amenities as rest rooms.

“We flew in Saturday,” Murray said. “It is rewarding when you can help the local communities.”

Crew members from outside the region started arriving all day Sunday.

As for how long the outside workers will stay, Pleasant said, “We haven’t given them a time frame. A lot of it depends on what the weather dishes out....We’ve got crews working around the clock.”

“They are proactive. They are ahead of the curve,” Murray said of the regional utilities preparations for Hurricane Sandy. “